City Councillors took part in a protest on the steps of Oxford Town Hall to pledge their support for West Papuans fighting for freedom from Indonesian occupation.

Melanesian Solidarity National Facilitating Committee for Free West Papua, Papua New Guinea is calling on the Senior Official currently meeting in Suva, Fiji to put West Papua as a sepa

A delegation of Papuan church ministers is flying out to America this week to lobby the United States Congress to investigate Indonesia's legal claim over their province.

Green Euro-MP Caroline Lucas has joined calls for the UN to hold an independence referendum in West Papua after the Green Party adopted a policy motion condemning the UN-sponsored 'sham

36th Pacific Islands Forum, Papua New Guinea, 25-27 October 2005

Netty Dharma Somba, Jakarta, Jayapura – The ongoing formation of Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) has drawn strong opposition from Papuan tribal leaders and churchmen, who feel disappoint

Indonesia's defence minister, Juwono Sudarsono, has denied media reports that Indonesia's National Defence Forces have deployed a large number of military personnel to Papua province.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government promised on Monday to install the members of the much-awaited Papua People's Assembly (MRP) early next month and to refrain from making any strat

A Swiss journalist who witnessed the Abepura incident in 2000 in Indonesia's Papua province says a police commissioner acquitted of charges in connection to the incident was responsible

Australia West Papua Association (Melbourne) welcomes the National Party's Resolution No.

Washington – Thirty-five members of the US Congress have called on Indonesia to lift travel restrictions to West Papua and halt the military buildup in the province where a rebellion ha

The UK-based Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) has denounced last week's ruling by an Indonesian Human Rights Court that ended up acquitting two senior police office

Jakarta – The acquittal of two senior police officers from all charges of gross human rights violations in Abepura, Papua province, drew public condemnation on Friday.

Today's acquittal of two senior Indonesian police officers, accused of allowing the killing of three Papuan students and the torture of over a hundred others, is a worrying illustration

Jayapura – Seventeen activists grouped in the Papuan Solidarity for Abepura group continued their hunger strike on Wednesday as part of the efforts to seek justice for the victims of th

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – A group of prominent figures established a forum on Tuesday to increase public participation in the efforts to resolve the problems of Papua, which ha

Alan Ramsey – Stuart Rees is the director of Sydney University's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.

Students and residents claiming to be from the Papua Solidarity for the Abepura Incident staged a protest in Jayapura on Monday, demanding the death penalty for two police officers char

Tony Hotland and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has warned the government to take all possible measures to block a US Congress bill that questions the s

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's military will be looking to reap even more riches from rebellious Papua province now that it has been forced to withdraw thousands of troops from

Jakarta – The Indonesian army will send an additional three battalions of troops to Papua.

Nethy Dharma Somba and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – A member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) has raised her concern over the alleged arrival of troops in the trouble

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – After the Helsinki peace deal that brought peace to Aceh, the central government has been urged to focus more on resolving the problems in Papua.

Carmel Budiardjo, London – The historic agreement concluded this week between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has been widely welcomed, both in Indonesia and

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta – Indonesia expressed displeasure over a report from a group of Australian researchers, who accuse the Indonesian Military (TNI) of committing genocide in Papua, an

Tom Allard – The Indonesian military has murdered independence activists, raped women and razed villages in Papua, a report by University of Sydney researchers alleges.

The Indonesian military has been blamed for systematic violence, including rape, arson and torture, in the province of West Papua, according to a new report by Australian researchers.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – At least 10,000 Papuans stormed into the office of the Papua provincial legislative council in Jayapura on Friday, demanding the government to review its

Hon Alexander Downer MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

11 August 2005

Dear Mr. Downer,

Jakarta – Controversy over the issue of special autonomy for Papua has shifted to allegations of the misuse of Rp 5.6 trillion (US$577.3 million) in the government's autonomy fund alloc

Washington – As a peace deal nears in a 29-year war in Aceh, US lawmakers are seeking support for an independence movement in another Indonesian province: West Papua, also the site of a

The Secretary of State
The Honorable Dr. Condoleezza Rice

Dear Madam Secretary:

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – United Nations and rudimentary SOS flags were unfurled during a ceremony commemorating International Indigenous Day on Tuesday morning in Jayapura.

Tiarma Siboro and ID Nugroho, Jakarta/Surabaya – Top members of the Papuan Tribal Council (DAP) met with Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Friday and asked the government to immediately hol

Jakarta – A United States Congressman assured Indonesia on Thursday of his country's support for the territorial integrity of this country, which has been plagued by secessionist moveme

The Right Hon Jack Straw MP
Foreign Secretary
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London SW1

Dear Mr Straw,

Fred Dove (Presenter): In the far corner of South East Asia the island of New Guinea is divided into West Papua and Papua New Guinea.

August 15th, 2005 may possibly – hopefully – be recorded as a day of peace in Indonesian history books.

Jakarta – Foreign countries still recognise Papua as part of Indonesia, said Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda in response to the US Lower House's recent bill questioning the

Jakarta – In an apparent attempt to calm the public, the government says it will refrain from paying too much attention to a move to question Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papuan leaders reacted cautiously on Monday to the bill recently approved by the US House of Representatives, stressing that Papua is legally part of Indo

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – The House of Representatives plans to send a four-member delegation to the US to lobby congress in an attempt to block passage of a bill that raises questions ab

Neles Tebay, Rome – The government is beginning to pay the price for its reluctance to honor its commitment to fully implement Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua.

Jakarta – The government should be more serious in handling problems in Papua following foreign intervention like the support given by an American senator for Papuan freedom.

Jakarta – The US State Department announced on Friday that Washington would not support any effort that would allow Papua to gain independence from Indonesia.

Jakarta – The Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI) will soon send a protest letter to the US administration through its embassy here against the US Congress adopting a bill questi

Jakarta/Shenzen, China – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned the US not to interfere in Indonesia's domestic affairs after the US House of Representatives recently approved a bill

London and Washington, D.C.

Kitty Holland – The human rights violations inflicted on the people of West Papua are the same as those suffered by the people of East Timor, an activist from the western Pacific island

The United States Congress is to vote on a bill which could see the US Government ordered to monitor the human rights situation in the Indonesian province of West Papua.